First Republic
Bank

A platform built to simplify payments, wire transfers, approvals, managing multiple accounts, and reporting, all within an intuitive and scalable system for businesses.

Creating a payment platform for First Republic Bank
As Principal Product Designer at First Republic Bank, my role was to redesign the Business Payment Platform. With a timeline of three years, the project aimed to transform the old platform into a modern, user-friendly experience, rebuilding both the business banking interface and technology while addressing pain points and missing features.
The challenge

The old platform had difficult navigation, limited transaction history, and lacked key features, leading to frequent customer support calls. Basic tasks like making payments, downloading statements, and finding transactions were complicated, requiring too many steps.

Users wanted features like customizable dashboards, daily transaction reports, better search, and easier access to statements. Aligning stakeholders on the new vision was challenging, as many resisted adopting modern technology. The design team was prepared to address these issues and create a user-friendly platform.

The solution

I worked with product managers to organize and prioritize key requirements based on user needs. We built the platform’s information architecture (IA) for both the MVP and future phases, using competitive analysis to shape navigation and layouts.

Wireframes and prototypes were tested with clients, focusing on complex needs to ensure the platform was easy to use and scalable. User feedback helped refine the design, making tasks quicker and information easier to find.

Given the scale of the project, most of the planning came from executive decks made by product teams and external consultants. To start design discovery, I took a more practical approach to understanding requirements and user needs.

I worked with PMs to review and organize the master spreadsheet, which tracked features, release phases, and usage data, along with key user insights. This helped us prioritize what mattered most.

I also reviewed persona decks to make sure we focused on key user needs for different types of businesses.

Information architecture and navigation
Defining the information architecture was essential for all phases, from the initial MVP to the future vision. We established navigation patterns and core components, using best practices from fintech, banking, and top SaaS tools.
Wireframes
During this phase, we explored different navigation patterns and layouts through wireframes, based on feedback from users. Our focus was on improving the information structure and visual hierarchy to simplify user flow and navigation.
User testing
We created a prototype to test our main information architecture and navigation principles with clients. The focus was on task completion, using interviews to see if our framework worked well for users. I prioritized users with complex needs and multiple permissions to make sure the design could scale. We gained important insights into user behaviour and discovered new pain points.
Global to-do widget
Users wanted quick access to their to-do list, focusing on urgent tasks right after logging in. We added a to-do widget and a global button for easy access across the platform, allowing them to approve or reject transfers and handle other important tasks directly.
Filters and actionable items
Clients needed an easy way to filter transactions and take actions like approving, rejecting, or sending for repair without navigating away. Selecting a row opens a sliding card with full transaction details, allowing them to act directly from the same screen.
Bulk actions for transactions
Users can select multiple transactions at once, activating an action bar at the bottom of the screen. This allows them to approve, reject, or send items for repair in bulk, speeding up the process.
Design system
From this project, we built a design system with reusable components, to be used in our other banking tools.
Role
  • Principal Product Designer
Team
  • Senior Product Designer
    Alex Barron
  • Design Director
    Rachael Blumenfeld
  • Design Operations
    Yarden Abukasis,
    Dean Giammarco
  • Head of Design & User Experience
    Alastair Halliday

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First Republic
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